Our work is done

T went home to be with her parents on a full-time basis this past Friday, the 21st. She is officially on a 6-month "home visit" which means if they are not able to maintain their progress over the next 6 months, she'll return to our home as a foster child. Hopefully that won't happen, for her sake.

Miles and I are proud of the work we did with her, and with her parents. She came to us on October 18 of last year as a dirty, neglected and underdeveloped 3 1/2 month old baby. She has made great gains in her developmental progress and has successfully reunited with her parents. She is in God's hands now.

Surrendering

I need you to join with me in praying for J. Lately I have been burdened by the thought of him going home to his mom. It is difficult for me to imagine the kind of life he would have if he is returned to her home. Yesterday I attended a case plan update meeting with J's mom, grandma, social workers and other professionals, and I received more insight into who his mom is and how unequipped she is. I am physically burdened at times with a desire to pray for him and his future. I don't know where he will be living permanently because that decision has not been made yet. And it won't be made for quite a few more months. So my job is to pray for him everyday and to surrender him to his Father's hands. He is not ours, he is not his mom's . . . . he is God's child and God has a plan for his life. He is an unbelievably lovable and fun child and I think that is what makes the burden that much heavier. I desire to see him grow up in a loving and safe environment and to love and serve God. I know that God desires the best for his life and I have to daily surrender to God's plan. Please join me in praying for him. Thankfully nothing changed at the meeting yesterday and mom's request for unsupervised time with him was denied. At this point she will continue to have 2 2-hour visits a week, and they are both supervised by professionals. My prayer is that if she is unable to care for him, this fact will become evident to the social workers and judge in the next 3 months, prior to the court hearing in January. If he returns home, my prayer is that God will keep Him safe and he will come to know and trust Him.

Surrender is hard sometimes.

Life

Another birthday has passed for me, which causes me to pause and reflect. Sometimes I feel that life moved at such a furious pace this past year that I barely had time to set goals or be intentional about reaching goals. Miles & I were just laughing the other day at what a whirlwind our lives have been. Especially this past year. In October we rented the photography studio and started fixing it up. October 18 we became foster parents to a 3 1/2 month old baby girl. In November we opened the studio to the public. In January we closed the studio. On January 23 we brought home a 2 day old baby boy. How we ever did it with him and an active 7 month old, I'll never know. I have never regretted the decision. J is such a delightful baby and T makes me laugh harder than any 14 month old I know. In March, Miles started a new job at Slacker, in San Diego. We also went through a lot of financial turmoil with the studio, and put our house on the market. In May we moved into a rental. And then came the summer and all of our activities. WHEW!!!


Who knows what this year will bring. 34 may be my best year yet!